Office ofthe Provost

Scott Hein

ProfessorRobert C. Brown Chair of FinanceFaculty Director of the Texas Tech School of BankingRawls College of Business

What are your research objectives and interests?

My research objectives are focused on communicating about what I find in examining
empirical finance issues. I want my fellow financial economic researchers to read
and see value in what I have to say. My research interests are purposely broad, dealing
with financial markets' and institutions' (especially banks) matters. Also, having
worked in the Federal Reserve System before coming to Texas Tech University has lead
me to do much research dealing with many Fed matters over the years. But, my research
interests extend far beyond just the Fed.

How do you feel your research impacts the globe?

Well, to begin with, I hope my research is not perceived as just hot air, making global
warming worse!

Seriously, I am amazed with the evidence that I have seen where researchers from throughout
the world have been accessing my research. We in the U.S. are most fortunate with
the extensive financial innovation and development of our financial markets and institutions,
so that others can gain value from what we have learned. Some of my research is policy
focused, and hopefully, it serves a valuable purpose for policy makers. Other research
I have done is community banking focused, and hopefully, it provides value to those
that operate and manage such financial institutions.

What types of service projects have you been involved with?

I try and provide service broadly to the university, and as an example, I am now serving
on a couple of key search committees to fill leadership roles at Texas Tech University
and the Rawls College of Business.

I also try to provide service to my profession. My colleagues, Jeff Mercer and Drew
Winters, and I are now serving our second three-year term as co-editors of the Journal
of Financial Research, where we view ourselves as active editors seeking to assure
that this journal provides great value to its readership, sponsored by the Southern
Finance Association and the Southwestern Finance Association.

In addition to these service activities, I also try to provide services to bankers,
generally. I have served for years as both the director of, and as an instructor at,
the Texas Tech School of Banking, which is a professional education initiative aimed
at community bankers. I also serve on the faculty at the Southwestern Graduate School
of Banking at SMU and the Graduate School of Banking at Colorado, again involved in
educating bankers.

What are you currently working on?

Most recently, I have been examining different aspects of the Federal Reserve's special
program to provide short-term funding to banks during the financial crisis. The Federal
Reserve took special steps to keep the identity of these borrowing banks from the
public, as well as knowledge about how much they were borrowing. With the help of
a couple of colleagues we have found evidence that financial markets knew who these
borrowers were and penalized the largest borrowers from the Fed for emergency funds
by selling off their stock. I am also looking more closely at what types of banks
borrowed these monies, working with a couple of finance doctoral students here. I
have also started a research project examining the deposit insurance pricing in place
in the U.S. as most recently reformed by Congress as part of Dodd-Frank, and how with
has impacted banks with different business models.

Where do you find your inspiration?

My inspiration is God-given. I get it from my family, my friends, my colleagues, my
caregivers and my students. By seeing their love and caring, and seeing others valuing
what I do and say, inspiration is ever present in my life. I don't have to artificially
manufacture it. I especially saw such love and caring when I was close to dying from
cancer in 2012. The love and care that flowed from people in all directions, including
from many at this fine University, as well as my health caregivers, was inspirational.
It is something that has stayed with me to this day.

What advice do you have for new faculty members about balancing the components of
Integrated Scholarship—teaching, research, and service—in their careers?

My advice is simple: Try and maximize what you give to others, and the benefits will
flow back to you. Also, I would advise not viewing teaching, research and service
as separable matters all demanding scarce time. Your time is scarce, but there are
remarkable synergies that can occur by doing any of these things, as the best you
can. In the beginning these synergies might not be apparent, but over time they blossom
such that you wonder why you never recognized them before.

I would also advise new faculty members to not let their work life totally consume
and define them. Rather, they need to carve out time for their family, friends, and
personal health matters such as exercise. Doing so helps avoid burn out and allows
for a good work-life balance.

More about Scott Hein

Scott E. Hein currently holds the Robert C. Brown Chair of Finance at Texas Tech University,
and serves as the faculty director of the Texas Tech School of Banking. Professor
Hein is also Co-Editor of the Journal of Financial Research and serves on the faculty
of the Graduate School of Banking at Colorado and the Southwest Graduate School of
Banking at SMU.

Before coming to Texas Tech University in 1983, Professor Hein was a senior economist
at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Professor Hein has also served as a consultant
to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve
Bank of Atlanta. His research interests are in the areas of banking, especially community
banking, monetary policy and financial markets. He has long been a friend and supporter
of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors, as well as a supporter of the community
banking business model.

Scott is a native of Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he did his undergraduate studies
at the University of New Mexico. He holds a Ph.D. from the Krannert School of Management
at Purdue University. He is married (48 years), and has two grown daughters and five
grandchildren. On a personal note, Scott was diagnosed in 2006 with stage 4 melanoma
cancer, making him then, and still now, a "cancer survivor".